The Lost Book of the White

“No,” said Tian, “you can live with the Downworlder you love, Alec. And you,” he said to Jace, “well, things worked out for you, which is fine, I guess. Otherwise—look, that doesn’t matter.”

“Ha,” said Jace, with the air of one who had won an argument.

Tian turned back to Alec. “You can adopt a child with the Downworlder you love. I, on the other hand, am not allowed to see the Downworlder I love, without breaking the Law. And yes, I know, the Law is hard. It’s too hard. It’s become so hard and brittle that it has begun to break.”

“That’s no excuse—” began Alec.

“Have you looked at the Clave lately?” Tian said, bitterness in his voice. “We are a house divided. A house broken into pieces. There are the ones like you, like me, who would prefer peace, who would prefer to work with all of Downworld, to strengthen all of us. Who would put aside the superstitions and the bigotries of our ancestors.”

“Jem Carstairs is one of your ancestors,” said Magnus quietly. “A man of neither superstition nor bigotry.”

“And the others,” Tian went on. “The paranoid. The suspicious. The ones who want the Shadowhunters to dominate, to crush the rest of Downworld under our rule. And especially the ones who call themselves the Cohort.”

“The Cohort is just a small group of crazy people,” said Jace, incredulous.

“It may be only a few who will identify themselves as such, for now,” said Tian, “but there are far more than you might think who agree with them, when they think only friends are there to hear them speak.”

“So you ally with a Prince of Hell?” said Alec.

Every time someone spoke, Sammael would pull an exaggerated face of shock and amazement. He seemed riveted. Alec wished he would stop, but he didn’t think it would go well if he asked.

“The war is coming,” said Tian, “no matter what I do. The fight between Sammael and the world. And he will find the Shadowhunters divided, scattered, broken on the lies and secrets they keep from one another. They will either fall—and the world will fall—or they will succeed, and the world will be saved. But at least I will be safe, and Jinfeng with me.”

“That’s his girlfriend,” stage-whispered Sammael.

“We know,” Clary said.

“And if we win?” demanded Jace. “The Clave is just going to take you back? A traitor who supported their enemy?”

“I like to think of myself as more than just an enemy,” Sammael said thoughtfully. “An archenemy at the very least. Perhaps even a nemesis?”

Tian looked stubborn. “I would hope for the Clave’s mercy. I would never hope for Sammael’s.”

“My God,” Clary said. “I think that’s the most selfish thing I’ve heard in my life.”

“Please,” murmured Sammael, “not the G-word.” Clary rolled her eyes.

“I’ve known your family for many generations now,” Magnus said quietly. “The Ke family have always been among the most honorable, generous, noble Shadowhunters I have known. They would be very disappointed in you, Tian. Jem would be very disappointed in you.”

Tian looked up at Magnus, and for the first time Alec saw a glint of defiance in his eye. “But it’s noble to sacrifice for love, isn’t it? I’ve been taught my whole life that that is noble. To sacrifice everything.” He looked at Alec. “That is what I have done. Sacrificed everything for love.”

Alec didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have to speak, though, as Magnus said, loudly, “That… is bullshit, Ke Yi Tian.”

Tian looked taken aback. Even Sammael looked a little taken aback.

Magnus’s magic flared, red and roiling and furious, shining from his chest and from his hands. He didn’t cast any spell, though, just advanced on Tian, a chemical fire raging in his gold-green eyes.

“You are not just some mundane,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “You are a Shadowhunter. You have a duty. A responsibility. You have a high and holy purpose, do you understand me?”

He paused like he was waiting for an answer. Tian opened his mouth after a moment, and Magnus immediately spoke again.

“You are the protector,” he said, “of our world. Ordained by the Angel. Instilled with his fire. Given the gifts of Heaven!” He grabbed Tian’s arm and glared into his eyes. “I know Shadowhunters, Tian. I’ve known them for centuries. I’ve seen them at their best, and at their worst. But I’ve known others, too, Downworlders, mundanes, and if there is one thing that Shadowhunters must understand, it is that they are not like other people.

“They love, they build, they covet wealth—when there is time. When the duty—the solemn duty, the only duty, the barrier dividing the living creatures of Earth from oblivion at the hands of literal, actual pure evil—”

Sammael waved jauntily.

“—allows them to. All love is important. Your love is important. And for some people, their love can be the single most important thing, more important than even the whole world.

“But not for Shadowhunters. Because keeping the whole world safe is not everyone’s reason for being, but it absolutely is yours.”

The flare of magic faded. Magnus lowered his head.

Tian stood silently. He did not reply.

“Yeah,” agreed Clary faintly from behind Alec.

Alec, however, was staring at Magnus. “I didn’t know you felt that way,” he said. To his own ears he sounded stupefied. “I assumed you thought the whole holy warrior business was just silliness.”

“Even I think it’s just silliness sometimes,” offered Jace, “and I’ve literally had evil burned out of my body with heavenly fire.”

Magnus’s expression softened. He stepped back toward Alec, as though he had only just realized how far he had advanced toward Tian and Sammael. “I try not to take things too seriously,” he said to Alec. “You know that. The world is an absurd place, and to take it too seriously would be to let it win. And I still stand by that philosophy. Most of the time. But most of the time,” he added, “I am not standing in front of the actual Father of Demons, in actual Hell.”

“Don’t forget Devourer of Worlds,” Sammael said. “That one is my favorite. I mean, who doesn’t like devouring things? Right?”

Magnus turned to Sammael, one finger raised, and for a moment Alec thought, By the Angel—Magnus is really going to start telling off Sammael, the Serpent of the Garden. He was still overwhelmed. For one thing, it was quite galvanizing to hear your boyfriend deliver a stirring defense of your importance and righteousness. For another, he was having a difficult time thinking of an occasion when Magnus had been hotter.

Sammael shrugged. “Anyway, have fun wandering aimlessly around Diyu until you starve to death. Not the way I’d choose to go, but it’s your life. Magnus, come with me.”

“You have to know,” Alec said, “that there’s no way we’re letting you take him.”

Sammael let out a long groan. “Why do you have to do everything the hard way?” He waved his hand in the general direction of the iron bridge beyond, and in front of it, a circular Portal swirled open. Demons—Ala, Xiangliu, Baigujing—began to emerge from it.

He turned to Tian. “When they’re done with the rest, bring Magnus to me. I’ve got things to do.” He shook his head as if the whole experience had fatigued him, and vanished with a small popping noise.

For a moment, Alec and his friends stared at Tian. Nobody had anything to say.

Magnus, thankfully, broke the silence. “I know we all have a lot of feelings right now—”

“There’s no way you can get through that whole demon army,” Tian said. He sounded weary. “Diyu is home to such an infinitude of demons—and Sammael can command them all.”

“Then we make for the bridge,” Jace said after a moment. “We can’t defeat them, but maybe we can break through them. And then on the staircase they’ll be squeezed into a smaller space, and only a few will be able to attack at a time.”

“Except for the flying ones,” Alec pointed out.

“You have a better idea?”

Alec did not.

Clary turned to Tian. “Are you going to try to stop us?” The words were a challenge. Alec was reminded, not for the first time, that in her own way Clary could be as fierce as Jace.

Tian shook his head. “If I stay here, the demons will just devour me anyway. They can’t tell the difference. Besides, I have to go find Shinyun and pass along my master’s message.”

“Great master you’ve got there,” said Alec. Tian didn’t reply. He gave them a long look and then walked away, moving quickly and purposefully, cutting across the scorched wasteland. The demons ignored him completely. In a short time he had vanished behind their milling crowds.

“Okay,” said Magnus, drawing White Impermanence. “I’ll keep the flying demons off us.”

“Where to?” said Clary.

“Someplace safer than here,” said Jace. “Stay together.”

Together the four of them advanced toward the bridge. At the front, Alec and Jace used their weapons to hold off the demons that got in their way; behind, Magnus blasted anything in the air, and Clary held off the demons that tried to flank them.

It reminded Alec of the classical warfare he’d studied—hoplites, squeezed together for protection, making their way through a hail of arrows. It was agonizingly slow going. Ten minutes of fighting brought them onto the iron bridge, but to Alec it looked like the bridge itself would be another hour to cross, stretching off into the indefinite distance. Next to him, Jace struck out with the spear again and again, his face a mask of sweat and ichor. Alec was sure he looked no better.

Once they were fully on the bridge, the demons changed their strategy. This wasn’t like the earlier fight; the demons were crowded so thickly that they could barely maneuver themselves, and they quickly realized that rather than trying to break past the Shadowhunters’ blades and Magnus’s lightning, they would accomplish their aim just as well by forcing them off the edge of the bridge.